Overhead door guiding mechanism



May 15, 1945.

c. BUEHNE R OVERHEAD DOOR GUIDING MECHANISMS Filed March 6, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I N VEN TOR.

May 15, 1945.

C. BUEHNER OVERHEAD noon GUIDING MECHANISMS /Uom vmeud rime/vans.

Patented May 15, 1945 OVERHEAD DOOR GUHHNG MECHANISM Christ Buehner, Milwaukee, Wis, assignor to Phenix Manufacturing Company, Inc., Milwaukee, Wis, a corporation of-Wisconsin Application March .6, 1944, Serial No. 525,320.

8 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in overhead door guiding mechanisms.

Overhead doors are provided for the purpose of closing the large openings in garages, barns, warehouses, and the like. The present invention relates to that type of overhead door which includes more than two superimposed and foldably connected sections. t is desirable, in an overhead door, to minimize the amount of overhead room needed for the door in its open position. To that end, guide tracks are provided on both sides of the door opening or frame, said tracks having vertical sections and overhead horizontal sections, connected by curved sections, with guide rollers carried by the door sections to ride in said tracks. In the present invention, and because of the desire to save overhead room, the top section of the door, when the entire door is moved, folds or breaks inwardly quickly, and a primary object of the present invention is to provide novel mounting means for the guide rollers of the top section of the door which can compensatingly vary their proximity to the plane of said door section during movements of the door, the same being collapsed so as to occupy little space when the door is inits raised, overhead position.

A further object of the invention is to provide guiding means for an overhead door arranged so that the upper hinged section of the door remains in a vertical closed position when the entire door is closed and does not swing or hinge inwardly until upward movement of the entire door has been initiated, the folding of said door section to follow the curved track portions then being automatically accomplished.

A further object of the invention is to provide guiding mechanism for an overhead door wherein hinged brackets carrying guide rollers for one of the hinged sections of the door are arranged for easy independent adjustments facilitating installation and mounting irregularities or overcoming differences occasioned by warpage, weather, etc.

A further object of the invention is to provide guiding mechanism for an overhead door wherein outstanding hinged brackets carrying guide rollers for one of the hinged sections of the door are supported by easily mounted rods which are readily adjustable as to length.

A further object of the invention is to provide an overhead door guiding mechanism which is of very simple construction, which is strong and durableand automatic in its operation, which is easy to install and adjust, which is compact, and

which is well adapted for the purposes described.

With the above and other objects in view the invention consists of the improved-overhead door guiding mechanism, and its parts and combinations as set forth in the claims, and all equivalents thereof.

. In the accompanying drawings in which the same reference characters indicate the same parts in all of the views:

Fig. l is a rear or inner elevational view of the improved overhead door in its closed position and showing the guiding mechanism therefor, portions of the supporting structure and guiding mechanism being shown in section;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary, detail sectional view taken on line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a similar view only showing the door in a partially raised or open position;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary, detail elevational view of a portion of the door latching mechanism;

' Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 55 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged, fragmentary, detail sectional view taken on line 66 of Fig. 2;

Fig. '7 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 'I-l of Fig. 6; and

Fig. 8 is an enlarged view of the keeper blade and its associated protuberance.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, it will appear that the complete, sectional, overhead door, indicated generally by the numeral H3, is illustrated as having four section l 1, l2, l3 and I4, but in actual practice the door may comprise any number of sections in excess of two. The door sections H and I2 are connected by side hinges l5 and an intermediate hinge I6. The door sections l2 and it are connected by side hinges l1 and intermediate hinges l8, and the door sections I3 and 14 are connected by side hinges l9. The pintles 20 f all of the side hinges are elongated and carry bearings or rollers 2| on their outer ends. The pintles are also adjustable or shiftable within the bearing portions of the hinges in which they are engaged to permit adjustments of the same to accurately aline the rollers with guide tracks 22. Said tracks are for the purpose of guiding the door to and from its overhead position and are rigidly carried by the garage or structure adjacent each side of the door opening. The tracks 22, of metal, are channeled and each comprises an upright section 23, a curved section 24 curving inwardly from the plane of the inner face of the door near the top thereof, and an overhead horizontal Section 25.

The rollers 2|, previously mentioned, are engaged in the tracks 22, as are upper rollers 26 on the upper side portions of the upper section l4 of the door, and whose mounting will be described hinge bracket 28 having an upper outer leaf 2.)

and a lower or inner leaf 30, said leaves being dis posed at an angle relative to each other and being integral at their meeting ends. The mating ends of the plate 21 and bracket 28 are rolled to form a bearing for a hinge p-intle 3|. The'outer end of the leaf 29 is also rolled to form a bearing for a shaft 32 which carries the upper roller 26 previously referred to. The shaft 32 is axially adjustable in its bearing for adjustments and installation alinement. The outer end of the lower leaf has PiVOtally secured thereto the upper end of a flat rod 33, the same having its front and rear surfaces rounded and threaded, as best shown in Figs. 6 and 7.

An adjustable extension associated with the depending end of the rod 33 comprises a pair of spaced, flat bars 34 whose upper ends embrace the depending portion of the rod 33 and are outwardly flanged at their upper ends, as at 34' to limit movement of an adjusting nut 35 which is mounted on the bars 34. The bore of said nut 35 is internally threaded and engages the threads on the rod 33. A locking nut 36 is threadably carried by the rod 33 above the flanges 34'. It will be obvious that when the locking nut 36 is released the adjusting nut 35 may be threaded up or down on the rod 33, carrying with it the bars 34 to shorten or lengthen the over-all length of the composite connecting rod which includes the rod 33 and bars 34.

Pivotally attached to the offset shank portion 37 of a thin angular keeper blade 38 are the lower ends of the bars 34. As will be noted from Figs. 2, 3, and 8 the keeper blade 38, of angular formation, straddles the shaft on the hinge I9,

which shaft carries a roller 2!, an edge 38' of the blade having an intermediate U-shaped slot for that purpose. The keeper blade projects into the slot between the vertical side margin of the door and the adjacent track 22 and is adapted, when the door is in its closed position, to engage a fixed tapering protuberance 39, the inner edge of said blade being recessed, as at 38' and having curved protrudin ends 39. The purpose of this arrangement is to urge the upper door section I4 toward its closed position when the entire multisection door is in its vertical closed position. This is due to the fact that the keeper blade 38, being engaged by the protuberance 39, exerts an upwardly directed force on the composite adjustable link 3334 so that the roller-carrying hinged bracket 28 is urged in a clockwise direction relative to Fig. 2, exerting a closing force on the hinged door section l4. From Fig. 2 it will be noted that when the door, including the upper section i4, is in its closed position, the guide rollers 26 are in the upper extents of the curved sections 24 of the tracks. This tends toward preventing the upper door section I4 from undesirably breaking or folding inwardly. Upon initiation of upward movement of the entire door, then the upper guide rollers 26 will immediately ride into the horizontal track sections 25 which will permit the upper door section I4 to freely fold or break inwardly as shown in Fig. 3.

Mounted on the building supporting structure above each horizontal track section 25 is a. counter-balancing spring 40. One end of a spring is anchored as at 4! while the other end of a spring carries a sheave 42 about which is extended an elongated cable 43, a portion of the cable also being engaged by another sheave 44 suspended from the supporting structure at some distance from the sheave 42. One end of the cable 43 is anchored as at 45 while the other end of the cable, passing downwardly from the sheave 44, is anchored on a plate 46 carried by a lower portion of the lowermost door section II.

Any convenient type of latching and locking mechanism may be employed for the door. Merely for purposes of illustration there is disclosed a simple arrangement which comprises a pair of spaced apart and oppositely reciprocatabl latch ing bars 4i mounted on the inner face of the door at a convenient elevation. When these bars are reciprocated outwardly their outer ends enter slots 48 in the vertical portions of the track 22, to thereby lock the door in its lower closed posi tion. The inner ends of the latching bars 41 are pivotally carried by an oscillatory plate 49. Said plate is mounted fast on a shaft 50 journalled transversely through the door and which carries operating handles 5! on its opposite outer terminals.

The latching bars 47 are urged toward their retracted unlatched position by a spring 52 connected between one of the bars and a housing 53 mounted rigidly on a face portion of the door. The interior of said housing is entered by the tumbler mechanism of a conventional lock barrel 54 in which tumblers are adapted to be actuated by a key inserted into the barrel from exteriorly of the door. Turning the key and the tumblers controlled thereby is effective to retract a lock projection or lug 55 from a recess 56 in the periphery of the disk 49. Said recess in the disk registers with the lock projection 55 when the disk, through the handles 5|, has been turned to project the latching bars 41.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that special provision is made for hingedly mounting on the upper section l4 of the door, brackets carrying track-engaging guide rollers 26. The mounting means for these roller carrying brackets on each side of the door are independent of one another and are readily independently adjustable to facilitate installation and to remedy difiiculties which might arise at a later date due to weather, warpage, etc. The hinged brackets are supported by rods which are also readily adjustable as to length. When the overhead door is in its closed position the upper hinged section i4 is readily maintained in a tightly closed condition without any special manipulating means. When .the door is to be opened upon the initiation of movement of the door proper, the upper door section folds or breaks inwardly quickl and the mounting means for the upper guide rollers 26 compensatingly vary their proximity to the plane of the door section during movements, with the result that when the door is in its raised overhead position the brackets collapse adjacent the door to occupy little space and this is a material saving in the door overhead required. The improved overhead door guiding mechanism is, furthermore, of simple and novel construction and is well adapted for the purposes set forth.

What is claimed as the invention is:

1. An overhead door, comprising a plurality of superimposed, hingedly connected sections, tracks mounted adjacent both side edges of said door to guide the door from a vertical to a horizontal position, guide rollers carried by each of said sections except the uppermost section to engage said tracks, independent bearing units hingedly mounted upon the upper corner portions of said uppermost section and carrying on their free ends rollers to engage said tracks, and other means afiixed to said independent bearing units to effect certain rocking movements thereof.

2. An overhead door, comprising a plurality of superimposed, hingedly connected sections, channeled tracks having vertical, curved and horizontal sections mounted adjacent both side edges of said door to guide the door from a vertical to a horizontal position, guide rollers carried by each of said sections except the uppermost section engaging in said tracks, independent bearing units hingedly mounted upon the upper corner portions of a face of the uppermost section and projecting from the plane thereof, rollers carried by the projecting ends of said bearing units engaging said tracks, an elongated support rockingly connected at one end to each of said bearing units, and means rockingly mounting the opposite end of each support on the door remote from the bearing unit.

3. An overhead door, comprising a plurality of superimposed hingedly connected sections, channeled tracks having vertical, curved and horizontal sections mounted adjacent both side edges of said door to guide the door from a vertical to a horizontal position, guide rollers carried by each of said sections except the uppermost section engaging in said tracks, independent bearing units hingedly mounted upon the upper corner portions of a face of the uppermost section and projecting from the plane thereof, rollers carried by the projecting ends of said bearing units engaging said tracks, an elongated longitudinally adjustable support rockingly connected at one end to each of said bearing units, and means rockingly mounting the opposite end of each support on the door remote from the bearing units.

4. An'overhead door, comprising a plurality of superimposed, hingedly connected sections, tracks having vertical, curved and horizontal sections mounted adjacent both side edges of said door to guide the door from a vertical to a horizontal position, there being vertical crevices between the side edges of the door and said tracks, guide rollers carried by each of said sections except the uppermost section engaging said tracks, the axes of saidguide rollers for a section between a bearing unit and said keeper plate and pivotally connected at its opposite ends to said unit and plate.

5. An overhead door, comprising a plurality of superimposed, hingdly connected sections, tracks having vertical, curved and horizontal sections mounted adjacent both side edges of said door to guide th door from a vertical to a horizontal position, there being vertica1 crevices between the side edges of the door and said tracks, guide rollers carried by each of said sections except the uppermost section engaging said tracks, the axes of said guide rollers for a section being along a line of hinged connection of said section, independent bearing units hingedly mounted upon the upper corner portions of said uppermost section and carrying on their free ends rollers engaging said tracks, a keeper plate pivotally mounted relative to the axis of a guide roller on a section below the uppermost section and riding in the crevice between the door edge and the adjacent track, said keeper plate having a cam shaped bearing edge, a protruding element mounted in said crevice and engageable with the bearing edge of the keeper plate to rock it, and a longitudinally adjustable link interposed between a bearing unit and said keeper plate and pivotally connected at its opposite ends to said unit and plate.

6. A bearing unit mounted upon the uppermost section of an overhead door, comprising a hinge mounted on a corner face portion of the door section and having a pivotal leaf projecting inwardly of the plane of said door section face, and an anti-friction device carried by the outer end of said hinge leaf and projecting laterally therefrom to guidingly engage a track, a connection attached to said hinge leaf, and means for movably connecting the opposite end of said connection to said door section.

'7. A bearing unit mounted upon the uppermost section of an overhead door, comprising a hinge plate rigidly mounted on a corner face portion of the door section, an angle plate having its apex pivotally attached to said rigidly mounted hinge plate, a bearing member j ournaled on an outer end of one portion of the angle plate and projecting laterally thereof to ride in a guide track, a connecting link pivotally attached at one end to another portion of said angle plate, and means for movably connecting the opposite end of said link to another portion of the door section.

8. A bearing unit mounted upon the uppermost section of an overhead door, comprising a hinge plate rigidly mounted on a corner face portion of the door section, an angle plate having its apex pivotally attached to said rigidly mounted hinge plate, a bearing member journaled on an outer end of one portion of the angle plate and projecting laterally thereof to ride in a guide track, a longitudinally adjustable connecting link pivotally attached at one end to another portion of said angle plate, means for rockingly connecting the opposite end of said link to another portion of the door section, and means adjacent said door section to contact and rockingly engage the last-mentioned means when the door section is moved to a certain position.

cmus'r BUlilI-INER. 

